Sunday, October 30, 2011

I haven't forgotten about the trip recap. After Paris and Cinque Terre, we headed to Rome. We did all of the "touristy" things there. I really enjoyed Rome, but probably would never choose to go back there. I feel like I saw everything I needed to see (I would however go back just to enjoy the food!).

We got to Rome pretty late at night and just had time to grab some dinner. We had some of the best pizza we've ever had before, and we also had a nutella calzone for dessert. Yum! The place was called Pizzeria Dar Poeta, which was close to our hotel in Trastevere. Our hotel, Donna Camilla Savelli, was very cool. It was actually a restored 16th Century Monastery. Neat, right?

The next day at lunch, I had maybe one of my favorite meals on the trip. I had a simple spaghetti alla carbonara (they don't put cream in theirs, and who needs it when you have all of that pecorino on top?). I recreated the dish when I got home, roughly basing it on this recipe and it turned out great! (You can also see what's left of our cheese and honey plate.)

But we did do things besides just eating! We headed to the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. I took 4 years of Latin in high school and we learned a lot of Roman history, so seeing the things I learned about was definitely interesting. Of course Justin kept asking me what all of the things in Latin meant -- I had no clue for the most part!

Then we walked over to the Colosseum.

Some shots from the Colosseum.

And the Arch of Constantine, which is in between the Colosseum and Palatine Hill.

We then cruised over to the Pantheon. It is just amazing to think that it was built in about 126 AD.

How stunning is this church over by the Pantheon?

All of this walking and sightseeing made us hungry and in need of gelato. So we stopped at Giolitti, one of the most famous gelaterias in Rome. Ordering was an experience in and of itself. And the gelato (and the generous "scoop" of whipped cream on top) was to die for.

Now that we had the energy to continue, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. (If you look closely, you can see how Justin spilled gelato on his white shirt. I am sure he will love the fact that I pointed that out.)

We had a delicious dinner that night, but one of my favorite parts was the wall decor there. They put wine crates up on the wall. What a cool idea!

Our next day in Rome, which was also our last, was just as busy. We headed over to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica.

View of the city from the Vatican museum.

St. Peter's was incredible.

The inside is so elaborate. It really is hard to convey just how beautiful it is.

This is one of the coolest pictures from the trip. Look at the way the light is shining through the window right on the cross. Amazing.

After St. Peter's, we headed back to our hotel, grabbed gelato one last time, and headed to the airport. I should mention that the entire time we were in Italy, Justin said everything he could in an awesome Italian accent. It made me crack up every time he did it. But I was secretly glad we were off to Greece, where I knew he couldn't even pretend to do the accent!

Friday, October 28, 2011

I sure am glad it's the weekend! In case you're curious, I won my pro bono case on Thursday! I've successfully worked on another asylum case before, and winning these types of cases is so fulfilling. So to celebrate, I've got a great giveaway for you!

Shabby Apple is offering a beautiful necklace to a lucky reader! Isn't this vintage-inspired black cameo necklace (called "the duchess") just lovely?

And in case you need any further encouragement to enter the giveaway, the Zhush just had a post about how cameos are making a comeback.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Back in my office post, I mentioned that we needed something to hang over the daybed. Well, now I can cross that off my list! Check!

I love it for multiple reasons: (1) it's Paris related; and (2) it was done on the cheap.

The "print" is this
wrapping paper from Paper Source. It was a whopping $3.95. The frame
is the Ribba frame from Ikea, which is $24.99. So for less than $30.00,
we got a large piece of art to fill the space (and remind us of our
fabulous time in Paris). Thankfully, the paper fit perfectly in the
frame. The colors work well in the room too.

This last picture of Riley and Zoey snuggling on my lap was too precious not to share -- and it shows part of the Paris print, so it's somewhat related!

Hope you're having a wonderful week. It's flying by for me -- I have a trial on Thursday for a pro bono client that I'm prepping for, and tomorrow is ice cream social day at the office. Jackpot!

(3) Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner. Seriously, I can't tell you how many eyeliners I've tried -- they all end up either fading away or smudged under my eyes or on my eyelids (or both). I've even tried the fancy $18.00 ones that the folks at Sephora recommend (Too Faced and Urban Decay) with no luck.

So while at Target the other night, I decided I would try Revlon ColorStay. And for only $5.00, I wasn't going to be too bummed if it didn't work. But it works perfectly! I get home from work and my eyeliner is still exactly where it is supposed to be. I've even been going up to Justin and having him look too so that he can be impressed! Boy is he thrilled.

(4) The Brazilian Peel (a glycolic acid facial peel -- not to be confused with the waxing)! I splurged on it a couple months ago and will definitely buy again, especially with Sephora's Friends & Family Sale starting soon.

I don't use it every week as recommended because that's just ridiculously expensive. Instead, I use it about every 3 weeks. It really does brighten my skin and makes it so soft. I have super sensitive skin too and I've had no problems.

(5) Shellac. Specifically, the color Rock Royalty. I've been a Shellac fan for sometime now and this color is going to be one of my go to darker colors. Shellac is a gel manicure that lasts 14+ days with no chips, which is especially key with dark colors. In the picture, the color almost looks metallic-y, but it's not. My nails are just super shiny after coming home from the nail place.

And how funny is Riley? He saw me holding my phone taking a picture, and I swear he thought I was taking it of him! Too cute.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

I'm back with another installment of our European vacation recap. After Paris, we headed to Cinque Terre, Italy.

We were originally supposed to fly into Genoa, but Air France cancelled our flight and re-booked us for two days later. Yeah, not cool. We found out that the day we were flying into Italy, there was a general strike there affecting flights, trains, and all other public transportation. Just our luck. We finally figured out a way to get to Italy on the day we were supposed to by flying into Pisa later in the day. Instead of getting to Cinque Terre in the afternoon, we got there at 9:30 at night. This incident was the only hang up with traveling during our entire trip, so not too bad.

It was pretty amazing in the morning to wake up to what our hotel overlooked that we couldn't see at night. I jumped out of bed and ran to our balcony to see this . . .

Beautiful, right?

We stayed in Manarola. As a little background, Cinque Terre is on the coast of the Italian Riviera. It translates to "The Five Lands" and is composed of five villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. (Thanks, wikipedia.)

You can hike in between all of the towns. We hiked in between Manarola and Riomaggiora (the Via dell'Amore) and between Corniglia and Vernazza. The trail in between Manarola and Corniglia was closed because of a landslide. We went to all of the towns, and if we didn't hike to them we took the train. Then on the way back, we took a boat from Monterosso to Manarolo. From here on out, I will let the pictures do most of the talking and will just note which part of the trip they were from.

On the Via dell'Amore:

From Corniglia and Vernazza:

The view from the top of the hill overlooking the Corniglia train station, after we walked up 382 steps.

Looking back at Manarola on the hike. As you can tell, it was very cloudy in the morning. I guess I am thankful that the clouds kept it a little cooler during the hike, but some of the pictures look a little dreary as a result.

This is a shot of the town of Corniglia during the hike.

The trails were a little rough. You definitely had to watch were you were walking.

It took us about 2 hours to hike to Vernazza. We stopped a lot for pictures and took the time just to enjoy the view. The trail was steep in places and we were a little worn out by the end, likely because we are out of shape (and I also chalked it up to eating way too many macarons and crepes in Paris). But it was totally worth it. We saw some of the most incredible views.

Here's what we saw once we finally got there . . .

The Vernazza beach:

Then we went to Monterosso via train. I loved the umbrellas at the Monterossa beach. I didn't see Meagan had "tagged" me--or whatever it's called on pinterest--in this pin until after we got back. But this picture is pretty darn close to it!

I am so glad we took the boat back to Manarola. It was cool to see where we had hiked and you can't get the same views any other way. It was also great because the sun was shining by then! And of course, Justin repeatedly sang the song "I'm on a Boat" (previously blogged about here).

Back in Manarola:

And what do you reward yourself with after a hike? If you answered gelato, you would be correct!

Shortly after I polished off my gelato, we hopped on a train to Rome. We had a whirlwind day in Cinque Terre, but it was well worth it. I saw some of the most amazing sights I've ever seen before.

I was going to try to recap Italy in one post, but that's not going to happen. Ciao for now. I'll be back with my Rome recap.

About Me

I married my wonderful husband, Justin, in June 2004. We have the cutest dogs (Riley and Zoey). I am an attorney who loves all things decor.
I also love blogs, Banana Republic, J. Crew, my job, and making lists.